Is the Resident Evil 7 DLC Worth It?

By Dalton Cooper 04 March 2017

Resident Evil 7‘s first two DLC packs have been available for all platforms for a little over a week now, giving fans plenty of time to sink their teeth into the new content. However, some fans may be holding off on Resident Evil 7‘s DLC because they’re unsure if it will be worth the price of admission.

Resident Evil 7‘s DLC support so far has included two Banned Footage volumes, with a free story expansion and a third paid DLC pack coming later this year. Read on to find out if any of this DLC is worth the asking price and whether or not the season pass is worth consideration.

Banned Footage Vol. 1

Retailing for $9.99, the first batch of DLC for Resident Evil 7 is called Banned Footage Vol. 1. Despite being cheaper than Banned Footage Vol. 2, the first volume of DLC for Resident Evil 7 seems to bring more to the table in terms of quantity of content.

In this DLC offering, players are treated to two new VHS tapes that can be accessed from the game’s main menu. The first is called Nightmare, and it focuses less on story and more on creating an arcade-like game mode to give Resident Evil 7 more replayability. In this mode, players are free to explore the basement of the Baker family’s creepy mansion as ill-fated cameraman Clancy, fighting off Molded monsters and the Bakers in an effort to stay alive until morning.

Nightmare is similar to Horde mode, with players taking on waves of enemies and tasked with setting up traps and the like to try to stay alive. However, Resident Evil 7 didn’t earn much praise for its combat, and is at its best when players are exploring new areas and solving puzzles. The Nightmare tape is built entirely around the game’s combat, and only lets players walk around the basement, which is an area that was heavily featured in the main game.

The second tape in Banned Footage Vol. 1 is called Bedroom, and it is much more intriguing. Still light on exploration, the Bedroom tape at least offers one of the game’s most challenging puzzles yet, with players trying to escape a bedroom while keeping up the illusion they are locked in bed. Taking inspiration from Stephen King’s Misery novel, the Bedroom tape is the highlight of the Banned Footage Vol. 1 experience thanks to its challenging puzzle and solid scares.

The final piece of the puzzle when it comes to Banned Footage Vol. 1 is the extremely challenging Ethan Must Die mode. This mode offers the greatest Resident Evil 7 challenge to date, and is strictly for hardcore fans of the game that have mastered its combat. It’s hard to see most players actually enjoying themselves with this mode due to its extreme level of difficulty, but it is an interesting diversion for awhile.

Overall, Banned Footage Vol. 1 is the best out of the two DLC packs available at the time of this writing. The Bedroom DLC has the best puzzle in the game, and while some may write them off as mere distractions, Ethan Must Die and Nightmare may still appeal to the more hardcore fans of the game. People that were satisfied after one time through Resident Evil 7‘s story may come away less impressed by the DLC, however.

Banned Footage Vol. 2

Like the first volume, Banned Footage Vol. 2 adds two new VHS tapes to the game, called 21 and Daughters. 21 is a twisted version of blackjack with unlockable tiers of difficulty that is heavy on Saw-like torture sequences. Like Nightmare and Ethan Must Die mode, though, it may have limited appeal.

The other tape is called Daughters, and it depicts what happened before the events of the main game. We can’t go into details without entering spoiler territory, but we will say that Daughters focuses on stealth and exploration more than any other new piece of content Capcom has put out for the game so far.

Banned Footage Vol. 2 also introduces a brand new game mode called Jack’s 55th Birthday. In this mode, players control Mia Winters as she collects food for Jack Baker to build a high score, all the while fighting off the Molded monsters and racing against the clock in the process. It’s an amusing concept, but it doesn’t have legs. Most players will likely grow bored with it long before they play through each stage, as going through areas that were already thoroughly explored in the base game can be monotonous.

Banned Footage Vol. 2 is more expensive than Banned Footage Vol. 1, but has less compelling content. The Daughters tape expands on the story, but it doesn’t move it forward in any way. Ultimately, it’s inconsequential; diehard fans of the base game will likely want to spring for it because it offers more of the same, but others can pass without missing much.

Future Resident Evil 7 DLC

Even with two relatively meaty expansions already available for Resident Evil 7, Capcom still has more in store for the game. A third Banned Footage volume is slated for release at an undetermined point later this year, but before that, fans can look forward to a free story expansion called Not A Hero.

The Not A Hero story expansion brings back fan favorite character Chris Redfield, but details beyond Redfield’s involvement are scarce. We’re not sure exactly when the Not A Hero expansion takes place in the Resident Evil 7 timeline, and it’s unclear if it will push the franchise’s lore forward in any significant way. Regardless, the Not A Hero expansion will be available for all Resident Evil 7 players free of charge, so there’s no reason that everyone with the game can’t try it out for themselves.

Resident Evil 7‘s DLC has limited appeal, in that it will likely only please those that were so enamored with the main game that they just can’t get enough of the experience. Gamers that played Resident Evil 7 one time through may not find the content compelling enough to be worth the asking price, and should skip the season pass as a result.